The Basement
by lgbtlovechick
Summary: Harry was locked away in a basement all his life knowing nothing but pain and humiliation. When he is finally rescued, he is more animal than human. This story is a journey of healing, love and the importance of family. Follow Harry and Severus as they learn what it really means to be human. My answer to K Gibbs Winters' challenge "the basement"


The Basement

A/N: hey! This is a response to an old challenge given by K Gibbs Winters **, the Basement**

Warning! This will be mostly fluffy, but contains **extreme** child abuse. way, way, way later, it will contain slash, but will probably never have smut, unless I make it part of the healing purpose. And there will be Albus bashing.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry potter, nor am I making any money off of this. This is purely for entertainment value.

* * *

The morning of November 1st 1981 was cold and rainy, as it often was in Surry England, but in the house of Number 4 Privet Drive, something odd happened. This morning, Dudley, the one year old son of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, had fallen ill with the common cold. This simple cold would change lives forever.

"Pet" a whale of a man hollered from the bedroom "did you get the daily?"

"No Vernon, Duddums was crying and he has a fever! Please get it while I feed him!" a shrill voice shrieked back.

Vernon grumbled as he lumbered to the door in order to get the new newspaper, only to stop short as soon as he opened the door. There on HIS doorstep was basket with a baby! His face turned red in anger as he looked around to make sure no one else had seen it. He picked it up and rushed back inside.

"Pet, you stay up with our boy, and I'll try to make something to eat." He shouted again, searching for a place to hide the abomination before it woke up.

Vernon's beady eyes darted around the room, when he spotted the cupboard under the stares. Panicking when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, he shoved the basket, child and all, in the cupboard and closed the door just before Petunia came into view.

"It's okay dear, he fell back asleep so I can make you breakfast" she simpered, pressing her hands against his bloated chest and pressing a kiss to his cheek, before sashaying out of the room, wiggling her boney hips as she turned the corner to cook her husband's morning bacon.

Vernon sighed, and went into the cupboard as quickly as his stumpy legs would carry him and pushed aside the chemical rack to reveal a door. He grabbed the basket and headed down the stairs quick as he could, hoping his loving wife forgot about the basement. They had lived in the house for three years, and only discovered the basement last year, and since discovering it, it had never been used, so Vernon decided it was safe to say she completely forgot about it.

Once at the bottom, the man dropped the infant down at the foot of the stairs and headed back up just in time to her his wife call him for breakfast.

* * *

That night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Vernon snuck into the attic and got one of the old blankets his wife refused to throw away, and got a small bottle Dudley had out grown, and filled it with milk from the fridge, not bothering to heat it up as he quickly went down into the basement. He was greeted by the sound of crying and wrinkled his nose when he said

"Food, freak." And dropped the old blanket in one corner and the cold bottle in the basket with the child before heading back up to his warm bed and cuddly wife.

* * *

Harry's bottom hurt and his stomach growled again as he cried and cried for his mommy, daddy or uncles, not understanding why he was in the dark. He always had a pretty light in his room, and stuffed friends but now all he had was his blanket and something cold pressing against his tummy. He cried himself into a fitful slumber, waking again when he had a wet bottom once more. It was hot, and it burned his soar bum, and he wiggled around in his cramped bed trying to find a place that didn't hurt. In his wiggling, the basket tipped over and Harry was left lying on his tummy on the cold floor. The cold bottle rolled away from him, but now, his whole front was cold, so Harry cried hoping mommy would be there soon to pick him up and sing to him. Harry woke again some time later still in the dark and tried to call out

"Mama?" he tried. When no one answered, he tried again

"Dada come. Harry good boy?" he called out to no one, trying to convince them to take him back. "Harry be good boy!" the one year old boy crawled into the corner, his bum stinging every time he moved, and curled up in the warmth of the blanket, trying to escape the cold.

"Mama, want up" he whimpered one more time before falling asleep.

* * *

The next day, Vernon went to work, and came home, throwing a bottle down to the one year old after everyone went to bed, calling "food, freak". And so it went, until almost a week later, Harry's tummy hurt so bad he could barely move, and when Vernon said the word "food", Harry recognized it, and crawled over to it before putting it in his mouth. It was hard, and his hands got wet as he chewed on the bottom, before turning it around and putting the nipple in his mouth and sucking the cold milk. The cold hurt his mouth, but every time he swallowed, the milk would run down his throat and fill his grumbling tummy, and it didn't hurt as much. When it was done, Harry fiddled with his bum, trying to get the burning to stop, and accidentally got something yucky on his hand. It smeared all over his bum and he grabbed hold of the dipper and pulled hard. It ripped down the middle and fell onto the ground with a wet slap. The burning lessened and Harry curled up in his blanket and fell asleep, for the first time in a while with a full tummy.

The next time Vernon came down, the first thing he saw was shit all over the floor and child.

"Freak!" he yelled, running up to get a bucket of water and scrubber. He dumped it all over the boy, causing him to scream and cry, for which he got a smack, and took the scrubber to the boy's already raw behind. Vernon took the poop covered blanket, and threw it in the wash.

For three nights, Harry only had his baby blanket, and Vernon never came down with a bottle. After an eternity for the child, he heard "Food freak", but couldn't move because his tummy hurt so badly. Vernon threw the blanket into the corner and a piece of bread with leftover meat loaf on the ground and went back up stares. Harry looked at his new meal, and put some of the red stuff in his mouth, before deciding it was good and scarfing the rest down and crawling to his clean bed.

After five times of getting scrubbed, smacked, and his blanket taken away, Harry learned to crawl out of his bed when he needed to go poo-poo or pee-pee, and after a month, Harry stopped calling out to his parents that he would be good and after two months, stopped speaking all together. After the first year, he stopped trying to crawl up the stairs, and after the twelfth lashing, he stopped crying. Occasionally, he would fumble with his toes or gentiles or smear his feces and make lines and pictures in it. After five years, he started looking forward to when the big man would come in, and after nine years, he started to potty in his bed so the big man would touch him, even if it was to hit him or scrub his bottom with a ruff scrubber.

He never knew that after 10 years of torment, his savior would finally arrive.

* * *

Dumbledore sat at the head table, his twinkling blue eyes scanning the first years searching for the small James look alike he knew would be there. When he didn't see him right away, he decided to wait until the sorting to finally see the fruit of his labor all those years ago. He pictured a small boy, looking just like James, going on adventures with his guidance, and looking up to the man who gave him sanctuary, idolizing him and following every command like a good savior, then fighting and ultimately making the sacrifice for his people and leaving Dumbledore the hero once more. Of course, there would be a statue of Harry in the middle of the courtyard, and Dumbledore would do the good thing and give some of his money to charities, saying it was what Harry would want, and keeping the rest to buy a new house with.

"Harry Potter" Minerva said, snapping Dumbledore out of his fantasies, looking for his new hero. When no one came forward, she said again

"Harry Potter" again no one came, he nodded for her to continue when she looked at him and decided to hold a meeting later. Once the sorting was over, he stood up and gave his speech and summoned the food. He loved doing that, the children looked at him with such aww he always had to grin. Once the meal was over, and everyone had finished, he said to his teachers,

"Meeting in 15 minutes. I'm sure you all know what we have to discuss." And he left to straighten his office.

Thirty minutes later, his office was full of arguing teachers, but all he had to do was raise his hand and all talking stopped.

"I have chosen Severus for a reason. I believe that he is most capable to handle the situation, and can adapt the best should something happen we didn't expect." He said, looking grave. He turned his attention on Severus now, eyes hardening only slightly. "I expect you to go there with a professional, open mind, but be cautious. We have no idea why Mr. Potter has chosen not to come to Hogwarts, however, you must convince him and his guardians that it is in his best interest to attend." When the man in question nodded, he dismissed everyone.

* * *

Severus grumbled as he headed up the sidewalk of Number 4 Privet Drive, potions bag and brochure in hand, wondering why in the name of Merlin and Morgana the old coot would choose him to recruit. He was not likable, not friendly, and most certainly not willing to put up with a spoiled child's attitude. He rang the doorbell and stood up straighter when a thin woman answered the door, a kind smile on her long horse-like face.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked politely

"I see you don't remember me, I'm Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts. I am here to talk to you and your nephew."

Her brow creased, and she said "While I remember you vividly, my only nephew died the very night of my sister's death. You two were quite close, I'm surprised you didn't know that."

Severus stiffened "you mean he doesn't live with you?"

"No, he's dead."

"He is not. He was sent to come live with you the night your sister died."

"Well, come in, can I get you some tea?" she stepped inside letting the man in and shutting the door. Once they were seated, he asked

"The Headmaster said this was his place of residence, I'd like to do a spell to track magical persons in an area if that would be acceptable." To which she nodded and he pulled out his wand. She eyed it like a snake about to strike, but did not comment. A blue light shined outside the cupboard door and they shared a look.

"Not here you say?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes widened and she flew to the cupboard and flung open the door. There was no one there.

Petunia breathed a sigh of relief, and said "you must have done the spell wrong. There is no one here. Do it again and we'll see,"

He did, and the light shined just past the chemical rack. Petunia gasped and covered her mouth with her boney fingers. "The basement. I completely forgot it was behind that thing" Then she tried desperately to move the rack, but simply wasn't strong enough. It didn't budge until Severus levitated it out of the way, chemical bottles and all. She opened the door and climbed down the steps into the darkness below. Severus followed close behind, understanding that while this is his job, whatever was going on happened right below her nose, and in her house without her knowledge. She had to stop on the fifth step to gag at the smell of unwashed bodies, urine, feces and stale semen. Severus discreetly cast an air freshening charm under both their noses, and stopped her for a moment to say

"No matter what we see down there, you can NOT touch anything until I have photographic evidence. I understand that this may be distressing, but will need proof of what is happening, and if you move anything it could be argued that you tampered with evidence. And he may not know any touch except pain, so do not run at him. Let me handle it, I know how to handle abuse. Understand?" she nodded blinking away the tears in her eyes. How could her husband do this! This wasn't the man she married. This was a monster. At the bottom, they looked around and saw on one wall, chains with cuffs at the bottom, on the other, a row of whips, Cato 9 tails and horse crops. Petunia gasped and sobbed into her hands when she saw the naked figure curled up in the corner huddled in her grandmother's old blanket, holding the corner like a lifeline, welts across his back and thighs, blood, dirt, and feces caked on his inner thighs. She let out a loud sob and tried to run to him but was held back by a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Pictures first. Then you can go to him slowly. But do not touch him." Severus said and pushed a vile into her hand "drink this. Calming Draught." Then proceeded to dig in his bag, pull out a camera, and take pictures of the horrors that were hidden down here.

"Alright, I've taken all the pictures I need of the surroundings, but I will need pictures of him. Can you help me?"

"Of course, what can I do?"

"Take pictures of what I tell you, I will approach him. Keep quiet." He said and Petunia nodded, taking the camera and following slowly behind him.

Severus walked slowly towards the shaking figure, who had opened his eyes not moments before.

"It's alright" the dark man whispered, getting on his knees so as not to startle the boy. He talked softly and held out his hands as though he were approaching a hurt dog

"I won't hurt you. You're a good boy." The child backed as far into the corner as he could, hissing as his raw back hit the cold wall.

"Petunia, can you zoom in on his stomach and ribs please. There are lashes and you can see every one of his ribs. Then his feet and legs. Look at the puss filled sores those are clearly infected. They must be from sitting in the firth day and night. Next take pictures of his thighs and genitals. Make sure you can see how red and raw they are. Dear Merlin, they look as though they have been scrubbed with steel wool. I am going to try to get him out of the corner so we can take a look at his back and behind." He said quietly, not turning around to see if she understood his orders. He set down his bag, and it tipped over, causing some potion filled vials and a wrapped granola bar to topple out. He watched as Harry's eyes moved from his hands to the snack and thanked himself for not taking it out since the last time he went collecting potions ingredients. He picked it up slowly and watched as the boy's eyes followed it, unwrapped it and broke it into several pieces, laying one on the floor just out of reach. Harry crawled forward on his hands and feet, snatched the snack up and darted back to the safety of his bed. He eyed the professor as the man backed up and laid another out, this one a little farther. Harry crawled over to it, and snatched it up once more, this time not going back to his bed to eat it, and waiting for the man to lay out another piece. When Harry crawled to the next piece, there was enough room behind him that Petunia was able to scoot in and take pictures of his swollen, blistered, and dirt covered back, along with the filthy blanket he had been huddled in. when she had taken all the pictures they needed, she said softly

"Should I call the police?"

To which he responded "do that and you will never see your nephew again. We will go to the Aurors only after he has been settled. I will ask however, that you go pack now. Pack yours and your son's things because I doubt you want either of you staying with that monster. She nodded and went upstairs to cry in peace, knowing her nephew was in good hands.

Severus took a small risk, and placed the next piece in his hand, lying flat on the floor. Harry waited for a while staring at the hand. He seemed to debate the risk of taking the piece out of the hand. After 10 long minutes, Harry crawled slowly forward and snatched the piece out of his hand before backing up, but not all the way to his bed, just out of arms reach.

"Good boy" Severus praised softly grinning like a proud parent and reached a hand out slowly to see if the boy would let him touch his hand. This was a mistake because the boy dashed back to his bed and curled under the dirty blanket.

"I didn't mean to frighten you" he said cursing himself for his foolishness. Of course the boy didn't want to be touched.

"Come on back out. I won't hurt you, you're a good boy." Severus coaxed, trying to get the boy to come out again, but to no avail. Severus sighed and decided it was time to get him out of here, and clean him up, so he cast a sleeping spell on the boy, and picked him up along with the filthy blanket and a basket and went upstairs. Severus laid the boy on the couch and shrunk the blanket and basket to put in his pocket. He then cast a series of spells to keep Vernon in the house and out of the basement until the authorities arrived.

"Here is a portkey, it will take you to a spare house of mine when you say the activation code." He said handing her a button

"The key is 'sword of justice'. Say this and it will transport whoever is touching it. Take yourself and your son there as soon as he gets home. I am leaving now to get this child cleaned up and settled into life at Hogwarts." He finished and picked up the sleeping body and apparated back to the gates of the castle.

When he arrived at the gates, he cast a disillusion spell on himself and the boy in his arms, and came as close to running as he was willing to admit to get back to his rooms.

He resigned himself to calling Poppy the moment he got to his rooms, but he didn't want the child in the hospital wing where the other kids would see him, and where Albus would have free access to him.

As he approached his rooms, he said the password quickly, not bothering to look around and see who was watching and whisper it like he normally did, the word was in Greek so he doubted anyone would be able to say it properly even if they did hear.

He walked in and laid the boy down on his couch and got his advanced medical bag out before fire calling Poppy.

"What on earth are you doing here? Weren't you suppose to go convince Mr. Potter to come to school today?"

"Poppy, Mr. Potter needs you, and quick. I believe him not to be in critical condition, but he could get blood poisoning if we don't clear out the infection fast. Come through." He said stepping back and allowing the matron to come through.

"Oh Merlin" she gasped when she saw him. She rushed over, getting out vials and barking orders.

"Get a basin with warm water and a very soft cloth. No, a sponge, his skin couldn't handle the softest cloth. Get him a week sponge. Then come over here and squeeze the warm water on the dried puss to try and dissolve it slightly, then gently rub the sores to get the remainder. I need the wounds open to cure the infection. I will come behind you with a potion, then we let that sit before rinsing him off."

Severus complied, getting the sponge he used for cleaning his crystal glasses and filling a basin with tepid water and rushing over.

"Have you given him anything?" she asked before putting any potions on his skin in case of bad reactions.

"No, I knew you had to look over him before anything happened, I did spell him asleep though."

"Then he will be wakening soon."

"Yes, and he will be frightened. Poppy, this child has little more mind then an abused dog. He is in an instinctual place and truly acts like a scared animal. I have a feeling we won't get him to do anything without a food reward for a while."

"You didn't let them get away did you?" she asked, fire burning in her normally kind eyes. She was the person Severus turned to when the abuse got too bad for him. He had tried to get help from Albus, to no avail. She was the one to get him out and away from his father. She held him while he cried and took him to tom who became a father figure in his life before his soul and sanity were taken and ripped apart.

"Of course not Poppy. I would never let a monster like him escape." He smirked "I'm sure he won't be happy when he gets home tonight, or when he can't go to work tomorrow because he can't leave. Petunia had no idea it was going on though, and I instructed her to get herself and her son out. They are staying at my property in Greece"

"Alright. I know you, you didn't let him get away with anything did you?"

As they talked softly, Severus and Poppy cleaned and dressed the boy's many wounds. They while they were able to seal most of the lashes and blisters, some of the deeper ones would have to heal mostly naturally, which meant cleaning and redressing them every three to five hours until they closed enough to be sealed with magic. While the majority had scared, they were barley noticeable and likely to fade in within the year as long as the scar removal paste was applied every night. The larger ones on the other hand, may never go away.

It took the better part of two hours for them to clean him, and they had just finished rinsing his hair and putting him in soft pajamas when they heard a groan,

"he's waking up, Poppy, I need you to back up and go stand closer to the wall. I don't want him feeling trapped." Severus said quietly

Harry's eyes flew open and he sat up on the couch. Noticing his surroundings, he crouched low as if ready to pounce, his eyes darting around and his teeth bared. He saw the man that fed him and cocked his head when the man held out his hand.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you. You're a good boy."

There it was again. That phrase. Harry didn't know why, but hearing that phrase made a warm feeling fill his tummy. He wanted to hear it again. He crawled towards the man only to fall off whatever he was on. He didn't shriek, he didn't cry, he just continued crawling slowly towards the man as though he hadn't fallen at all.

Severus put his hands out flat so the child could see he meant no harm, amazed that he was crawling towards him.

"That's it. I won't hurt you." He said encouragingly, not moving a muscle, afraid to scare the child off.

Harry stopped crawling about five feet from the kneeling potions professor and sat down, hugging his skinny knees to his chest hoping that he had done something to make the man say that phrase again. He didn't know what it meant but it felt good and he would do anything to hear it again.

"Do you want some food Harry?" Severus asked, watching as the boy's eyes lit up at the word. Severus said quietly

"Poppy, there is a bit of chicken broth on the counter, can you bring it to me?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw someone move and he collapsed on the floor and curled up into a ball, shaking.

"Move slowly Poppy" Severus said "I'm not going to hurt you. You're a good boy"

Still shaking, Harry's small arms lowered from there protective positions around his head just enough for his green eyes to peak out, only for him to move them back up as soon as Poppy came back into his view.

Severus turned and carefully took the bowl of soup out of her hands and watched as she went back into the shadows, casting a disillusion charm on herself.

"It's okay now Harry. I have some food for you." He said putting the bowl on the ground in front of the whimpering boy and backed up, sitting once more a few feet away.

Harry peeked his head out of his arms when he heard the word 'food' and looked around to discover it was only him and the man once more. Still shaking, he undid himself from the tight ball he was in and looked to the man for the food. When he nodded towards the bowl on the ground, Harry tilted his head and tried to grab the soup with his hands, but the liquid slipped through his fingers. He tried several more times before giving up and curling into himself in sorrow. He wouldn't get to eat this food.

Seeing this, Snape conjured a bottle to put the broth in for Harry to drink, and hoped the boy knew what to do with it since he knew Harry wouldn't trust him enough to feed him. He poured the liquid into the bottle and held it out to the slumped boy who grasped it greedily and drank.

Severus watched as halfway through the bottle, Harry's eyes began to droop, but the boy continued to suck vigorously at the nipple until every last drop was gone. He then curled up on the floor and fell back asleep.

"He's like a mixture between a toddler and a wild animal isn't he." Poppy said, coming out of her corner as Severus lifted the boy up and brought him to the spare room. After a moment, Severus decided against laying the boy in the bed, and conjured a large futon that laid directly on the ground.

When Poppy looked at him strangely he said "it's better if he is not high up. He doesn't know the danger of heights and that crawling off the bed would mean falling. His sense of pain is clearly lacking, so he would have learned nothing from his fall earlier off the couch. A fall from that high could break his already brittle bones."

"That makes sense, should we take the blankets off the bed and make it a nest?" she asked

"Better to only use one or two blankets with heating and cooling charms. He will learn fast which to use when he's hot and which to use when he's cold. One blanket on the ground is all he is use to, I am afraid of over whelming him just by giving him the futon, I don't want him to wake up and feel suffocated." He replied. "However, we will slowly add blankets and pillows and eventually it will make a nest." He said

"In addition, I think we should keep his blanket in the corner of the family room whenever we are interacting with him so he has a place to retreat to where he feels safe. In the basement, that was his… haven... for lack of a better term."

"Very well. I understand your point. You should have Molly up here to make him some light food. She will know what is the best to hide potions in, I don't see him being willing to take potions for a while, and I know she has had to mask several potions for Percy who has an extremely sensitive gag reflex. Not to mention both Bill and Charlie, who refused to drink potions unless they were practically dying."

"Excellent idea. Thank you, I'll call her in the morning, but for now, I must… talk… to Albus." Severus said reluctantly before putting a charm on Harry to let him know at the first signs of Harry waking. Hopefully he would be back by then, but he definitely did not want Harry waking alone. He was just getting the boy to trust him.

"Very well, you go yell at him and I'll go back to the wing. You tell me if you need anything. Alright?" Poppy said before hugging him and leaving via floo.

* * *

A/N: I'm actually quite proud of this! It's not going to be like anything I have written yet, so I'm excited for the challenge! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! please review and tell me what you think, or any ideas you have!


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